


Seashore

by SaintImperator



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fantasy AU, Preview
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-14 05:32:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11201481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintImperator/pseuds/SaintImperator
Summary: Just a preview of my piece for the Haikyuu Fantasy Exchange.  It's my first fic for this fandom but I intend to write more so please let me know what you think!





	Seashore

Castle Shiatorizawa was as tenacious and aloof as the family that sat its throne. The sloping tiled roofs and sturdy ramparts were constructed on an island at the center of a glimmering lake, that connected to the shimmering sea. The royal family and its staff resided on the island, looking down from its craggy cliffs to the coastal town below. The citizens of Shiatorizawa were lively and felt secure under the watchful gaze of the Great Eagles- that’s what they called the Ushijima family. At least, that’s what I’d been told. 

I’d lived in the castle- the nest if you will- for as long as I could remember, and had not yet been down to see the shore. I watched the lives of the people play out through the windows. In summer they constructed wooden rafts, giant things and had parties right out on top of the water. I’d asked to attend every year, certain that despite never having been able to practice before that I could win a longboat race or dive for clams with the best of them. Every year I was denied by Kenjiro Shirbau whose careful eyes kept watch over all the serving boys. 

Nothing slipped by him. 

The summer festivals were thrown August 13th, towards the end of the season. The early fall chill may have deterred some from the seaside but the festivities were in celebration of his highness, Prince Wakatoshi’s birth. It wasn’t as though one got to choose a convenient time, he’d had no control over it. I’d known the Prince all my life, and rather owed most of my existence to him. According to the Queen, who’d told the both of us the story of my arrival at Shiatorizawa Castle thousands of times when the Prince and I were young boys; deemed a suitable playmate the both of us had spent much of our youth together. 

It had been Prince Wakatoshi’s first act of heroisim. He’d been two years old, going on his first sail around the lake. The King didn’t want to keep him from the water any longer then that. The Ushijima dynasty was one steeped in tales of adventure on the high seas, the ocean running through their veins as much as blood. I’d been adrift in a scallop shell, floating up and down on the waves. It was Wakatoshi who had heard my cries over the ebb and flow of the lake, the push and pull of the oars and the squawking of seagulls. 

He had pulled at his father’s robes and held out his hand, his left hand, as true and straight as any arrow. The King attended his sons instructions and had me taken aboard. I’d been working in their house ever since, first as the Prince’s playmate, but now grown I worked alongside the other servants- attending Wakatoshi’s orders especially. 

He was easy to work for, firm and fair. Kenjiro had been waiting on him before I started, a year my senior it was only natural- but he didn’t show the same inclination for it. Kenjiro liked to plan, was great at setting out the Prince’s clothes, preparing for his hunts or voyages, setting his schedule- it was just that so much of Prince Wakatoshi’s days were spent training. 

He was a fierce one for fighting, holding a sword practically since he could stand. We’d had wild rampages in our young days with sticks for weapons and pillows for shields. I’d never once bested him- not out of any kind of loyalty to the Ushijima family- Wakatoshi was just genuinely better then I. I’d tried to emulate him, striving to work my left hand the same way he could, but my right was stronger and I’d never gotten the hang of it. Kenjiro said fighting left-handed was improper anyway, and Prince Wakatoshi was only allowed to do it because the King had pleaded so hard to allow that indulgence- when he asked for near nothing else. No one denied him and Wakatoshi was all the stronger for it, none could best him on tourney grounds. 

Kenjiro was more suited to archery, precicse, calculated and controlled. When it was hunting season the two of them would shoot targets endlessly, and it was Kenjiro who was able to leave the castle and join his highness in the forests. I got to clean the deer they brought back. 

Every other season, I was the one who woke at first light to fit Wakatoshi with armor. I got to head to the courtyard alongside him, assist him in practicing for the joust. We would spar until my legs felt close to collapse. Prince Wakatoshi never seemed to tire, I longed to mirror his strength. 

It wasn’t fair to say that the Prince favored me over the other servants, it was just that we wanted the same thing. With every blow we dealt, hit we took we grew harder and stronger. One day I was going to become a soldier that Shiatorizawa could be proud of, and follow faithfully after Wakatoshi when he came of age and set sail, following in his forefathers footsteps to become a warrior-prince. That is, if I were ever let outside the castle.


End file.
